In September 2009 I became the world, drug free power-lift champion for the U100kg class!
I'm pretty chuffed with that although I didn't get the world record... next time maybe. I don't tell you that to impress you, but rather to impress upon you that YOU can achieve your goals in vegetarian bodybuilding too without drugs or meat!
For the contest I had to lose about 8 pounds of body weight to get under the 100kg limit in just over a month. I feel and look considerably more ripped now and thought you would like to be able to do the same.
Calling A Spade A Spade!
It is not weight loss you require but fat loss. Body re-composition is the name of the game. If you lose 10lbs of fat and add 10lbs of muscle you will weigh the same but believe me - you will look incredibly different.
Do not be afraid of putting on muscle weight. Muscle is your friend. Muscle is metabolically active and will keep you burning calories while you are at rest. Do not be afraid of putting on “too much muscle” as the chances are slim to none, and if you do you can easily lose it later. Is it better to train as if you do want your muscles to grow and reach your targets quickly or train as if you don’t and crawl towards your goals? I know which I would choose.
Goals!
Want to lose ten pounds of fat in ten weeks? Then start by understanding what behaviours you can adopt immediately that'll lead to this result. Make these your goals rather than the outcome itself.
Here are a few examples:
• I will exercise for at least five hours per week.
• I will eat five to six meals each day
• I will eat vegetables with each meal.
• I will avoid alcohol this week.
Make goals out of behaviours, behaviours you can control, and your external goals such as your body composition will fall into place.
"Five to six meals – are you crazy?!"
If three square meals a day works so well then why are you looking to lose weight?
In reality five or six meals is actually breakfast, lunch, dinner and two or three 'snacks'. But if you think of all them as MEALS you will control portion size and content much better. Rather than justifying a bar of chocolate or bag of crisps as “just a snack” you will be treating it as a meal and taking into account its nutritional content and value, its purpose and how it will affect your body. For example, if you choose a Snickers bar you will need to know it has 290kcals, 44.85g of carbohydrates (mainly sugars) and 11.31g of processed fat in it!
Is that a meal that will help you take a step closer to goals or a step further away? Having decided the Snickers bar is not such a good idea you might like to consider an apple or two or some other form of fruit – a snack with natural sugars, vitamins, fibre and health inducing properties or if you following the guide below a snack with natural fats proteins such nuts or cheese if you are craving it.
So an average day of healthy vegetarian eating might look something like this:
Meal 1. Breakfast: Fruit then allow 15 min for digestion and then have 2 or 3 scrambled eggs
Meal 2. Snack: 50g cheese
Meal 3. Lunch: Quinoa with steamed asparagus & any other veggies or salad of choice
Meal 4. Snack: 20g of dark chocolate (this is my one concession to all you chocoholics! However, it must be at least 70% cocoa solids to provide a nice little hit of antioxidants). If you don’t want chocolate have a serving of natural Greek yogurt.
Meal 5. Dinner: Cottage cheese with spinach salad drizzled with olive oil
Meal 6. Snack: A handful of mixed nuts (try to include almonds & walnuts for a good ratio of omega 3s & 6s).
When you are eating more it's really important to keep your fibre levels high enough. See Vince DelMonte's Article on that here: Facts on Fiber
I'm going to let you 'digest' this information for now (excuse the pun) and follow up with Part 2- "Exercising for fat loss" in a newsletter. Until then, enjoy your training, eat well and see you in the gym,
Ben
Get comprehensive meal plans for vegetarian muscle building and all the details for fat cutting in "No nonsense muscle building"